Mike Elgan at Cult of Mac: "It must surely be a sign of the impending apocalypse that Microsoft's operating systems have 'more taste' than Apple's. I'm referring, of course, to Apple's inexplicable use of skeuomorphic design in iOS and OS X apps, and contrasting that with Microsoft's stark avoidance of such cheesy gimmickry in the Windows 8 and Windows Phone user interfaces. A skeuomorphic design in software is one that 'decorates' the interface with fake reality - say, analog knobs or torn paper. The problem is worse than it sounds." Won't come as a surprise to anyone that I wholeheartedly agree with this one. iOS and Mac OS X are ruined by an incredibly high Microsoft BOB factor. I have no idea how - or if - Apple will address this, or if the current downward spiral is going to continue.

Did you read the paragraph above the one you quoted, where I said that skeuomorphism can actually serve a purpose in audio editing software?.

Yes... I have seen a few cases where it helped. I forget what the software was, but it basically represented analog plugs and patch cables between virtual amps and virtual analog sound fx equipment. For people who understood the equipment it emulated it was extremely east for them to wire them up on the computer screen to get the desired effect.

Perhaps it grates on me more when they skeumorphize something that has become more familiar on the computer than the nearly forgotten analog they emulate.